June 16, 2000

It’s been two weeks and four days since a new Radiology employee started on the job, and he still hasn’t gone to the bathroom. Nor has he taken a lunch break, come in late or slowed down at all. He works like a machine. That’s because he is a robot.

Radiology got the new robot to carry films from the Image Service Center in the Blake sub-basement to the Dodd Interpretation Area on Blake 2, where films are read. The films were previously carried by a telelift, until the Image Service Center moved to the sub-basement in August.

Until recently, employees had been running films up and down stairs on top of their regular jobs."The robot carries films to radiologists more quickly and efficiently, freeing up skilled employees to provide more patient-focused care," says Barbara Hubley, operations manager for the Image Service Center.

The next two months will determine how well the robot works and its impact on the elevators. If it works out, the hospital will buy him from Pyxis Corp. at a cost between $115,000 and $125,000. At that time, there will be a hospital-wide contest to name him — or her.

Now, he makes the trip once an hour between 8 and 11 am and between 2 and 6 pm. He glides along, with 24 sensors detecting people or objects in his way. He calls an elevator with a remote antenna and rides by himself to the second floor, where he rings a bell inside the reading room. An employee then empties the films and sends the robot on his way.

He utters such polite phrases as, "I am about to move, please stand clear" and "Thank you." "The most common reaction from employees and patients has been ‘Wow,’" Hubley says.

For more information about the robot, call the Image Service Center at 6-3072 or 6-1779.

Radiology staff welcomes new employee.